Rove ‘talks fairly regularly’ with top McCain staffers.»

[babylonsister]

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/13/rove-talks-fairly-regularly-with-top-mccain-staffers/

Rove ‘talks fairly regularly’ with top McCain staffers.»


As ThinkProgress has often noted, former Bush political guru Karl Rove is an informal adviser to Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) presidential campaign while simultaneously appearing as a supposedly independent political analyst on Fox News. Now, in a new article not yet posted online, National Journal’s Peter Stone reveals that Rove “talks periodically” with McCain’s chief political strategist, Charlie Black, while also speaking “fairly regularly” with other top staffers like Nicole Wallace and Steve Schmidt:

“Generally speaking, Rove’s advice is action-oriented and useful,” said another senior consultant to the McCain camp. “It’s always well received.” This McCain adviser noted that Rove talks periodically to Black and a few other top campaign aides on several key matters. “It can be policy ideas, messaging ideas, fundraising prospects, or people who need calls from someone in the campaign.” Rove is “part of the information network that the campaign has,” this adviser said, adding that Rove talks fairly regularly to such key people as Wayne Berman, a major fundraiser for McCain; Nicolle Wallace, a communications adviser; and Steve Schmidt, a senior aide.

Stone, who has previously reported that Rove is “up to his eyeballs” in the coordination of outside political groups supporting Republicans, also reports that Rove is paid “mid-six figures” to provide assistance to the conservative attack group Freedom’s Watch.

[DFW]

1. That isn't surprising.

Seeing as how ensuring that the next Attorney General is a Republican
would be about the only thing standing between Rove and a long jail sentence,
I'll bet "fairly regularly" means in this case about every half hour.

[JohnnyLib2]

2. Roviavellian politics plus that tough old survivor elephant.....

That's why I cringe with every underestimate of McCain in the GE.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

3. I am sure a lot of this...

is "Wingnut Welfare" to cash him up for when the merde hits the ventalateur. Keeps the quieter that way.

[Frustratedlady]

4. Mid-six-figures, eh? They sure take care of their crooks, don't they?

Congress needs to rev up their oversight committees and keep him busy.

[Cirque du So-What]

5. Wexler & Conyers need to keep Turd Rove preoccupied

He's got far too much time on his hands for making political mischief, and the longer he spends lawyerin' up or (dare I say it?) testifying before the House Judicial Committee, the better off we are as a nation.

[CODemocrat]

6. Is this really ?

Surprising....

Politics is Politics.

(Rove is the underlord of all things evil) Jeebus told me. ;)

[VeraAgnes]

7. They can talk all day but

McCain's Staff and McCain are poor students.....I have yet to see any of the Rovian tactics implemented..... McCain has been, well boring, and Rovian tactics are always nasty and deceitful...

[Botany]

8. After S. Carolina 2000 and what Rove did to him how can McCain use him?

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2004/03/21/the_anatomy_of_a_smear_campaign/

Anonymous opponents used "push polling" to suggest that McCain's Bangladeshi born daughter was his own, illegitimate black child. In push polling, a voter gets a call, ostensibly from a polling company, asking which candidate the voter supports. In this case, if the "pollster" determined that the person was a McCain supporter, he made statements designed to create doubt about the senator.

Thus, the "pollsters" asked McCain supporters if they would be more or less likely to vote for McCain if they knew he had fathered an illegitimate child who was black. In the conservative, race-conscious South, that's not a minor charge. We had no idea who made the phone calls, who paid for them, or how many calls were made. Effective and anonymous: the perfect smear campaign.